Leah
Dyjak

Collect/Disperse

Collect/Disperse makes use of what remains and carries on a legacy of gesture, the breaking down of plates, to create fill for the garden. I break down the dishes' circularity and their intended use. This practice transcends the definition of domestic work, combining the roles of cleaning and care-taking with physical labor, land ownership and reclamation. The original utility of the dish is deconstructed and repurposed as a way to occupy and fill space that is vulnerable to erosion and gentrification. My seemingly Sisyphisian gesture of smashing dishes is an act of resistance both to the gendered role of women and the changing landscape of my self assigned-home. I use our collected and fragmented histories as ground cover to be weathered and walked on. I use these pieces to hold space in a place where land is being swallowed, sold and censored.